Monday, May 5, 2008

Aérotrain...

... the track is built onan alignment that would allow it to be used in a future Paris-Orléans line. ...source: eng.wikipedia.org

The second and proper experimental track, located in the north of Orléans, between Saran and Ruan, was 18 km long. It was built on piles which were between 6 and 7 meters high above the ground. The tests of the different prototypes took place from 1965 to 1975. They were very successful and the “I80 Aerotrain” reached the speed of 428km/h. But the SNCF, that was partner of the project, decided to invest totally on the TGV. source: Pentacycle

Raphael Zarka and Vincent Lamouroux

Station just north of Domarville the most-northern point of the 18.5 kilometer track. The end stations must have provided a place to turn the car around for its return journey in the opposite direction. source: Randy Lambertus

distant view of 'La sucrerie d'Artenay'

The main complex at Chevilly, France The platform where the Aerotrain was hangared, turned and staged for it's test runs. source: Randy Lambertus

Today the cable and the tensioning mechanismare still in place. The cabins are nowhere to be found. source: Randy Lambertus

Aerotrain and Naviplanes(english version of the french site)by www.aerotrain.net If I said "AEROTRAIN" what would you think?

This question, I have often asked it during my research on Aérotrain. I received many wrong, or sometimes fanciful, answers. People old enough to have followed technical events between 1965 and 1974 should remember this name.Indeed, the name describes a process which, when it was applied to a means of transportation, created a revolution.To begin, one must introduce the man who, with his research team, has conceived and developed this process.

Jean BERTIN, a graduate from Ecole Polytechnique, France, worked as an engineer at SNECMA....